Haights Cross Communications Inc., a White Plains publisher of educational and library books and materials, is for sale after a year marked by an investors”™ lawsuit over company stock shares and the resignation of its founding CEO.
Officials at the company said the decision to sell all business assets followed a comprehensive strategic review. Included in the sale are the company”™s remaining operating units: Triumph Learning in New York City; Recorded Books in Prince Frederick, Md.; and Oakstone Publishing in Birmingham, Ala. A buyer still is sought for another Haights Cross business, Sundance/Newbridge Educational Publishing of Northborough, Mass., which was listed for sale in November.
Evercore Partners Inc., the company”™s financial advisor in New York City, is coordinating the sale.
Triumph Learning is the publisher”™s test-preparation and intervention business, comprised of its Coach, Buckle Down and Options brands. The unit grew year-over-year by $9.6 million, or 17.5 percent, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2007.
Recorded Books is a leading publisher of unabridged audio books and other audio media for libraries, schools, and consumers with operations in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Its revenue rose year-over-year by $3.4 million, or 5.5 percent, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2007.
Oakstone Publishing, a publisher of continuing medical education and employee wellness materials, had increased year-over-year revenue of $1.5 million, or 6.9 percent, for the first three quarters of 2007.
Overall company revenue in the first three quarters of 2007 grew $7.2 million, or 4.3 percent, to $174.5 million from $167.3 million for the same period in 2006. The company reported net income of $81.1 million for the first three quarters of last year and about $39.9 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, discontinued operations and goodwill impairment charges for the same period, down from about $42.2 million in earnings for the same period in 2006.
Haights Cross last summer completed a recapitalization that settled a lawsuit filed against the company by key investors in preferred stock and converted investors”™ preferred stock holdings to shares of common stock. Shortly after the agreement was reached, Paul J. Quandt, who founded Haights Cross in 1997, resigned as president, CEO and board chairman and received a lump-sum payment of about $2.58 million and $1.5 million in scheduled noncompetition payments. He was replaced by Paul J. Crecca, the company”™s chief financial officer.
“Throughout this process,” Crecca said recently, “the Haights Cross businesses and our committed employees have remained focused on providing customers with quality products and services and thus strengthening their positions in the markets they serve.
We believe that despite the current economic environment, these assets offer compelling value to prospective buyers.”
